Once Burned
by chibiukyou
Summary: Bra and Goten romance! When Goten turns her down, Bra vows to never forgive him. Now, 10 years later, is there any chance for them?


Once Burned  
  
Standard Disclaimers apply.  
  
"Hey Bra, what you up to?" A teenage boy with spiky, black hair asked as he entered the room with another, purple haired teenager. The young girl, sitting by the window looking out, spun around, her face lighting up with joy.  
  
"Goten!" She squealed as she raced across the room to wrap her arms around Goten's legs.   
  
"Whoa, hold on there. Yeah it's me." Goten said laughing, as he tried vainly to pry himself free from the clutches of Bra. Pleadingly, he looked at Trunks, his eyes asking for help. Trunks rolled his eyes and came to the rescue of his best friend.  
  
"Let go of Goten, Bra, or I'll never play tea party with you again." Trunks whispered fiercely to his little sister. Bra stuck her tongue out at him, but reluctantly let go. Goten burst out laughing, and Trunks turned his attention to him.   
  
"What' s so funny, huh?" He asked impatiently. Goten was laughing so hard that he could not answer him right away. Finally, after he had regained control of himself, he gasped out an answer.  
  
"You play tea party with Bra?" He managed to get out before he broke out again in peals of laughter. Trunks blushed as he realized his mistake, and hit Goten on the back of his head. Goten stopped laughing immediately, and stood rubbing the back of his head, glaring at Trunks. Bra just looked back and forth between the two of them, not understanding why it was such a big deal that Trunks played tea party with her.   
  
"C'mon, lets go watch some television." Trunks said, breaking the uneasy silence that had descended on the room.  
  
"Okay." Goten agreed as they both headed towards the couch in front of the television, with Bra following behind them.   
  
"I'll go get the snacks." Trunks offered, and left to go to the kitchen. Goten settled himself on the couch and waited for Bra to climb up next to him. After a few minutes of watching a boring action movie, Bra turned to Goten, with a serious look on her face.   
  
"Goten, I need to tell you something." Bra said quietly. Goten switched off the TV and turned towards her.   
  
"What is it, Bra?" He asked, growing nervous at the look on her face. Bra took a deep breath and closed her eyes.   
  
'Okay, just like you practiced.' She told herself. Opening her eyes, she opened her mouth.   
  
"Goten, I... I love you." Bra said with quiet conviction. Goten dropped the remote in shock.   
  
"You what!?!?!" He practically shouted. 'Okay, calm down. Maybe she meant it as if she loved me as a brother.' He thought frantically, trying to reason with himself with himself. However, one look at Bra's questioning eyes told him that he was wrong. "Listen Bra, you know, me and you, we just wouldn't work out, you know." He said nervously. "I mean I think of you as a little sister and all." Bra's face fell and her eyes started to fill with tears. "Hey, don't cry. C'mon, we're just too different. I mean, you're six and I'm nineteen. You wouldn't know what love is... You're just to young." Goten had started to babble.   
  
"You mean you don't love me." Bra asked in a heartbroken voice, one small tear working its way down her left cheek.   
  
"I'm sorry." Was all Goten could say. He reached out to Bra, but she threw herself backwards, out of reach to avoid his touch.   
  
"Don't touch me!" She yelled, tears now streaming down her face. Goten withdrew his hand, looking hurt at her words.   
  
"I hope we can still be friends." He asked hesitantly. Bra's only answer was to start crying harder. Soon Goten felt like he was going to cry himself. Bra turned and ran from the room. Trunks, who was just coming in with an armful of chips and sandwiches, was almost knocked over as his sister ran past him, sobbing, to her room. Bewildered, he looked at Goten for answers. Goten looked very disturbed over Bra's sudden departure, from his presence. He looked at Trunks with a sad look in his eyes. "I think I better go home now." He said in a slightly dazed voice, and walked out past Trunks and out the front door. Poor Trunks just stood there, confused by it all, not understanding why everyone had suddenly deserted him.  
  
****   
  
Bra watched from her bedroom window as Goten left the house and flew off in the direction of his own home. Wiping her tears from her face with the back of her hand, and sitting on her bed, she thought over what Goten had said to her. 'I think of you as a little sister. We're just too different. You don't know what love is. I hope we can still be friends. You're too young. You're too young. You're too young.' The words echoed in her head, mocking her. Crying harder, she drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.   
  
"We can still be friends Goten, but I will never...never forgive you." She whispered fiercely to herself. "Never."   
  
****   
  
-10 Years Later-   
  
" Hey Bra, what's up?" A man with spiky black hair asked as he entered the room with another, purple haired man. The teenage girl sitting by the window, doing her homework looked up and smiled coolly.   
  
"Nothing much Goten." She answered him in a somewhat distant voice. Goten looked confused at her tone.   
  
"Is anything wrong, Bra?" He asked.   
  
"Her and her boyfriend just broke up yesterday." Trunks interjected, having heard it all from Bra the night before. Goten's eyes lit up for a second and then a concerned look came over his face and he moved to sit next to Bra. Trunks eyed his best friend suspiciously. 'Why did he look so happy just a moment ago when I said that Bra had broken up with her boyfriend?' Trunks wondered to himself. Only he seemed to have noticed, not even Goten himself seemed aware of what just happened.   
  
"Hey are you okay?" Goten asked of Bra, his expression worried, and his eyes troubled.   
  
"I'm fine, really. I never did much care for Rick in the first place. I just went out with him because he wouldn't leave me alone." Bra answered him, her tone never changing. She wished Goten would just move away from her. His presence was overwhelming, and Bra was having trouble concentrating on anything else. Needing a distraction, she focused on keeping her voice steady, and forcing her hands not to shake.   
  
"Well that's good." Goten said. "Wanna go to the movies with me, Trunks, and Pan?" He asked, an almost pleading tone in his voice. Bra was sorely tempted to say yes. 'On one hand I want to go, and on the other hand, I really want to go. I've got to be true to myself.'   
  
"No thanks. I got a lot of homework to do right now." She said, slightly proud of herself that her voice wavered only minimally, when Goten reached over and patted her on the shoulder.   
  
"That's cool, I understand." He said. "We'll see you later, then." Then he and Trunks left. Bra let out the breath she had unconsciously been holding, and allowed her body to relax. Shaking her head at her own foolishness, she looked back down at her homework. After staring at the same math problem for a few seconds, her brain not registering what she was seeing, she closed her math book with a frown, and stood up. Suddenly she had a loathing at being all alone in the house; her mom was out shopping with Chichi, and her dad training in the Gravity Room. Coming to a decision, she quickly ran outside, and found Trunks and Goten just as they were about to take off.   
  
"Wait! I changed my mind." She yelled at them. They stopped and turned to look at her.  
  
"You're coming?" Trunks asked. Bra nodded, and he shrugged. "Cool, c'mon." He told her, and then took off in the direction of the movie theatre. Goten held out his hand to Bra, and she hesitated. She didn't want to touch him, but then again, she couldn't fly either. 'One of these days, I'm going to have to get Pan to train me, so that I can at least fly.' She thought ironically. Biting her lip, and relying on a reserve of courage, she didn't know she possessed, she grabbed Goten's hand and together they flew off after Trunks.   
  
****   
  
Pan was waiting for them in front of the movie theatre; arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. She did not look happy. She paused in tapping her foot as soon as she caught sight of Trunks, who was flying somewhat ahead of Goten and Bra.  
  
"About time you got here." Pan said huffily as soon as Trunks touched down in front of her. Trunks smiled embarassedly at her.   
  
"Sorry Pan, we got here as soon as we coul-." He trailed off as he saw Pan looking off behind him, and he turned to see that Bra and Goten had arrived. Pan met Bra's eyes and raised one defined eyebrow as her eyes traveled down to Goten and Bra's interlocked hands. Bra flushed under the scrutiny as she realized what Pan was getting at. She immediately dropped Goten's hand as if she had been burnt and, looked down at the pavement she was standing on. Only Pan knew of her feelings for Goten.   
  
"What?" Trunks asked Bra, confused as she stood there with her head lowered, while she studied the ground with a sudden interest. He could see that her face had turned quite a bright color of red, and he wondered what had happened to make her blush so bad. He transferred his eyes to Goten, seeking help, but Goten was paying no attention at all. In fact, he had a far away look to his eyes, and Trunks noticed his mouth was partially open. 'Probably thinking about food.' Trunks thought, shaking his head, and rolling his eyes. He turned to look at Pan and saw her looking back and forth between Bra and Goten with one delicate eyebrow raised, and a very Vegeta-like smirk on her face. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?" He asked exasperated. Pan decided to take pity on him and covered the distance between them.   
  
"Come on Trunks, let's go pay for the tickets." She said, taking his arm and leading him towards the ticket booth. Goten and Bra stood for another few seconds before Bra finally got hold of herself and followed at a distance behind them. Goten came out of it as he realized he was all alone, with even Bra a distance away.   
  
"Hey!" He shouted, and ran to go catch up with Bra, falling into step with her, as they walked on in silence.   
  
****   
  
They found Trunks and Pan waiting for them just inside the theatre. Bra noticed somewhat distractedly, that as they entered through the door to their movie, after handing their tickets to the valet- dude, that Trunks and Pan were holding hands. Goten didn't notice anything out of the ordinary at all. All he could think about was how cute Bra looked when she was blushing. 'Man Goten, get a hold on yourself.' He inwardly scolded himself. 'Bra would never go out with you, and besides, she too young.'   
  
Goten frowned as he walked into the movie and took a seat next to Trunks. He saw that Bra was sitting next to Pan, in the farthest seat away from him without actually leaving her friends. He noticed that Pan was sitting on the other side of Trunks, who had his arm around her shoulders. 'Since when have they been going out?' He thought and was about to ask them when his stomach suddenly growled.   
  
"Hey Goten, why don't you go get some snacks for the four of us before the movie starts." Trunks asked, looking over at him from where he sat, cuddling with Pan. "My treat." He added when he saw Goten about to protest. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills, and handed it to Goten. Goten couldn't resist an offer like that, and besides he was hungry, so he grabbed the money and then stood up and looked around, his eyes lighting on the unfortunate figure, three seats away.  
  
"Bra! Why don't you come with me? Even I can't carry all that food and I'm gonna need some help toting it back." Goten said in an overly sweet voice. He didn't know why, but he really wanted Bra to come with him. 'Why do I feel this way about her? She's like a little sister to me.' Pushing his doubts aside, Goten looked pleadingly at Bra. Bra was sorely tempted to refuse, but when Goten started turning on the puppy eyes, she knew she couldn't deny him anything.   
  
"Fine." Bra sighed as she dragged herself out of her seat and stood next to Goten.   
  
"Great!" He smiled brilliantly at Bra, who despite herself, started to smile back. "C'mon buddy." Goten laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders. The smile on Bra's face disappeared, as her face grew hard at the term of endearment that Goten had used. Scowling, she twisted out from under his arm and stalked through the movie door, towards the small concession stand set up in the lobby. Confused, and more than a little hurt, Goten looked at Trunks and Pan as if searching for an answer to Bra's rude behavior. All he found was Trunks looking back up at him, equally confused, and Pan glaring at him as if it was his fault. "What'd I say?"   
  
****   
  
Bra stomped towards the snack stand just outside of the door that led to the movie. There was only a young couple in line. She glared at them and they hurriedly decided they didn't need the snacks that much. Bra paid no heed to them as they left, as she absently ordered four of everything they had. The vendor's eyes widened at the order and his face started to turn an interesting shade of purple. Bra didn't even notice his sputtering and obvious shock. Her shoulders were still tingling from where Goten had laid his arm on her shoulder, and her heart was still pounding from being so close to him.   
  
"Miss? Miss?" Bra snapped back as she heard the voice of the vendor speaking hurriedly to her.   
  
"What?!?" Bra snapped her voice sharp, annoyance at being interrupted laced with harsh sarcasm in her tone. The clerk took one, cowering step back, and Bra took a deep breath. "What is it?" She asked in a softer tone. The vendor, still shaking in fear, stepped back forward and placed his shaking hands on the counter.   
  
"Would you like to pay with cash, check or credit?" The vendor said hesitantly. Bra frowned, concentrating. 'Cash? Check? Cre... oh yeah, you have to pay for the food. Duh! Earth to Bra!!!'   
  
"Um well, ya see. My friend has the money, and um well he's not here right now, but he'll be here soon. He was right behind me." Bra smiled sheepishly at the disgruntled vendor while she waited impatiently for Goten to show up. 'Stupid baka probably forgot and is watching the movie right now.' She thought disgustedly.   
  
****   
  
Goten, himself was making his way slowly to the door, when he saw a teenage boy leering at him.   
  
"Looks like your 'daughter' is pissed at you." The boy said in a mocking tone. Goten ignored him, but was strangely disturbed by the boy's words. 'Why? Why does it hurt so much, thinking of having Bra for a daughter? Is it possible that I may have feelings other than brotherly towards her?' He wondered, a frown creasing his forehead. 'No, not towards Bra, anyway. She's always been like a little sister to me, and it would just be too weird to think of her romantically. Shouldn't it?' Goten was so immersed in his evaluation of his feelings of Bra, that he failed to notice the door in front of him.   
  
"Ow!" He muttered, rubbing his aching nose. He heard muffled snickers behind him, and turned to glare at the perpetrators. The giggles stopped as Goten glared accusingly out towards the audience. Nodding smugly to himself, he spun around and very deliberately pushed the door open and walked out. He stood there for a few minutes, blinking in the sudden light, trying to remember why he had come out here. 'Oh yeah, snacks, that's right.' He thought, rolling his eyes at his forgetfulness. He continued walking and thinking about Bra, while absently rubbing his arm. For some reason it had a strange tingling feeling to it.   
  
As he thought about Bra, he came to a conclusion. 'No wonder I've been feeling so weird around Bra lately.' He thought, mentally smacking himself. 'It must have something to do with the moon. Of course.' Goten frowned at that. 'No that's not right. The moon hasn't been around since Piccolo blew it up before I was born.' ... His eyes widened suddenly as he realized the truth. '-'. His thoughts were cut off as he felt himself run into something. 'Ah, dang it! Not again Dear Kami! I'm in love with Br!' He thought, thinking he had run into another door. But as he looked down at the figure sprawled on the floor, glaring up at him, he realized that Bra Briefs-Vegeta was 'NOT' a door.   
  
Goten's face lit up in a huge grin and he winked at Bra, who just stared woodenly up at him, not amused. 'Heh, just wait until I tell Bra! No one can resist my charm.' He began rehearsing what to say as he helped Bra up from her place on the floor.   
  
"Bra! There you are!" Goten exclaimed happily. Bra glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest, part in anger, and part in embarrassment.   
  
"What took you so long?" Bra asked. "I need some mon-". She got no chance to finish her sentence as Goten   
grabbed her arm.   
  
"Shh. Bra, I need to tell you something. In private." He added as he looked around at the people in the room. He then proceeded to drag Bra over the farthest corner of the room away from the concession stand.   
  
"Well, what is it?" Bra asked, rubbing her arm when Goten let go, trying to get it to stop tingling. Goten took a deep breath and opened his mouth. " Okay, just like you practiced."   
  
"Bra, I love you." Goten said in a rush. He looked at Bra expectantly, waiting for the burst of joy that he knew would come. Many seconds ticked by and still Bra just stared back at him, not saying a word. Goten started to get a little anxious. 'Maybe it was just too much for her to handle?' Bra was shell-shocked to say the least. All she could do was stand there stupidly, staring blankly back at Goten.   
  
'He said it! OMG! He said he loves me!' Bra's heart lifted and a new light seemed to shine in her eyes. Goten watched, as a whole new change seemed to come over Bra. For the first time in years she looked truly happy. 'Heh! I knew it.' He thought smugly. Then without warning, Bra seemed to close up. Her eyes grew cold and her face hardened.  
  
"Bra?" Goten asked, confused. Bra turned her cold eyes to him and he felt a shiver run down his spine. 'Uh oh.' He thought as Bra opened her mouth to speak.   
  
"Listen Goten, me and you, we just wouldn't work out, you know." Bra said in an emotionless voice. "I mean I think of you as a big brother and all." Goten's face fell and despite himself, his lower lip started to tremble. "Hey, don't cry. C'mon, we're just too different. I mean you're 29 and I'm sixteen, you're just too old. You wouldn't know what love is." All this was said in the same, never changing voice.   
  
"You mean you don't love me?" Goten asked in a heart broken voice, his eyes filling with tears.   
  
"No." Bra replied. Inside she was torn between anger and happiness. She was ecstatic that he loved her, but at the same time she was furious at what he had done to her 10 years ago. The warring emotions together produced sadness and emptiness inside that she didn't think she would ever get rid of. "I'm sorry." Bra whispered softly. Turning, she ran out the door. Within seconds she was out of sight.   
  
"Bra!" Goten screamed after her. He ran out the theater door and into the direction Bra had gone in. After three blocks he gave up. Bra ran faster that anyone he knew, other than a Super Saiyain, and he had no chance of catching up to her now, unless he brought unnecessary attention to himself. He flew up above the city, out of sight of any that might look up, and concentrated on Bra's ki. Focusing, he flew off in the direction Bra was.   
  
"Um... hello?" The concession stand vendor said dazedly, staring at all the food he had just made. " Who's gonna pay for all this?"   
  
****  
  
Bra was not having a good day. She was sitting on a swing in an abandoned park. Her feet were planted firmly on the ground to prevent her from swinging, and her elbows were resting on her knees, with her hands holding her head. Tears streamed down her face unheeded, and her shoulders shook slightly.   
  
"Baka." She scolded herself. "Why do you let that overgrown monkey get under your skin like that?" But she knew the answer. As much as she wanted it to not be true, she knew that the reason she got so rattled around Goten was because she loved him. As she had ever since she could remember... ever since she was six. Her back stiffened slightly as she felt the familiar surge of anger and resentment flood through her as she thought of what had happened back when she was six. Her eyes lit up with fury, and her fists clenched in her hair. 'Why did he have to go and say he loved me? I was doing just fine with just being only his friend.' Bra grimaced as she thought this. She couldn't lie to herself. If he hadn't said that he loved her tonight, she would have confessed in another week or two. And got her heart broken all over again. 'Why does love have to be so complicated?'  
  
****   
  
Goten finally spotted Bra in an abandoned park, swinging slightly on a metal sing. Cautiously he approached her. He winced as he heard the sound of muffled sobbing, and saw her shoulders shaking slightly.  
  
"Bra?" He asked hesitantly, putting a nervous hand on her shoulder. Immediately her shoulders stopped shaking, and the sound of sobbing quieted. Goten was half- afraid that she would turn around and blast him, even though he knew that Bra didn't train. But Bra made no move to get up and blast him into the next dimension, nor did she turn around and embrace him with open arms. Instead she just sat there, her body tense.  
  
"Go away." She whispered so softly, Goten could barely hear her, even with his acute Saiyain hearing. Goten frowned, but didn't lift his hand. "GO AWAY GOTEN!" Bra screamed, jumping up and turning to face him. "I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" Tears streamed down her face and her fists were clenched so hard her knuckles were white. Goten took a step back in shock.   
  
"Bra? What...?" He sputtered.  
  
"All my life I have looked up to you! Respected you! And what do you do? You throw it back in my face! I would have done anything for you and you end up mocking me with this 'Oh Bra, I love you and have always loved you,' crap. Who put you up to this? Trunks? Or maybe even Pan. They knew my secret, they knew that I love you. They must have..." Bra trailed off as she realized what she just said. She clamed her hands over her mouth and stared horrified at Goten. Goten for his part, stared back at Bra, his surprise and shock written clearly on his face.  
  
"You love me?" He asked, wide eyes. Bra didn't respond right away, but after a few seconds, she slowly nodded her head.  
  
"But... back at the movie theatre, you said you didn't. Why?" Goten was looking at her with such intensity that Bra lowered her head, unable to meet his gaze. Finally she found her voice.   
  
"Because...Because I was afraid it was a joke." She whispered hoarsely, still staring at the ground. " I didn't want you all to laugh at me if I said how I really felt and it turned out to be a hoax." She was lying, and she knew it. No fear of embarrassment or humiliation had kept her from speaking those three words to Goten. It was pure, childish spite. Over something that had happened ten years ago, and that Goten obviously didn't remember. 'You know what they say.' She thought bitterly to herself. 'Once burned, twice shy. And I got burned big time.' She heard Goten beginning to speak again.   
  
"Bra, trust me. I have no clue what's going on, or what in Kami-sama's name you're talking about, but I do know that neither Trunks nor Pan put me up to nothing. I meant what I said. I. Love. You." Goten took a deep breath. Bra was looking at him with growing hope, but was still skeptical. 'She doesn't believe me.' He thought to himself, looking at the demi-Saiyain in front of him. 'Something bad must have happened to her before, it she's this afraid to accept love. But what?' Aloud he said, " Bra, please believe me. It may have taken me a long time to realize it, but I have always loved you." Goten could see she was still unconvinced, but he didn't know what else he could do. Then he came across a sudden inspiration. Remembering a song he had heard before on the radio, he began to sing softly.   
  
//One last chance, I'll treat you right. One last chance, I'll do no wrong. One last chance, I'll show you my heart.   
I feel the pain running down my spine. Won't get no better till you're back in my life. Must be with you all the time. I figured out once we had a fight.   
  
If you give me one last chance, I'll treat you right. If you give me one last chance, I'll do no wrong. If you give me one last chance, I'll show you my heart. And I'll love you till the end of time.   
My shoulder's here to cry on when you're sad. I know my love for you can't go bad. And when you cry, my heart can't lie. I know I want you by my side.   
  
If you give me one last chance, I'll treat you right. If you give me one last chance, I'll do no wrong. If you give me one last chance, I'll show you my heart. And I'll love you till the end of time.   
I wouldn't know what to do without you girl. I just need you in my life. And if you give me one last chance. I'll promise to love you forever. Come back to me.   
  
If you give me one last chance, I'll treat you right. If you give me one last chance, I'll do no wrong. If you give me one last chance, I'll show you my heart. And I'll love you till the end of time.//  
  
As Goten trailed off, he looked at Bra. She was crying. He didn't know why. Either: 1) She loved the song, and was crying from the beauty of it, or 2) he sang so bad that just listening to him brought tears of pain to one's eyes. Uncertainly, she looked at her, waiting for her to answer. With a muffled cry, Bra rushed at Goten and flung her arms around his neck.   
  
"I love you Son Goten." She whispered, with her body pressed tightly against his and her face inches from his own. Then she kissed him. Goten's arms went around her waist as he returned the kiss. When they finally broke apart for air, they stood with their arms around each other, gazing up at the starry sky. Bra came to a decision as she lay there in his arms.   
  
"I forgive you Goten." She whispered.   
  
"For what?" Goten asked, confused. Bra smiled up at him at went back to looking at the stars.  
  
"Nothing, nothing at all."   
  
The end.   
  
A/N: so, how'd ya like it? This story was written along while ago, so please be gentle. Hope it was alright. That song that Goten sang was by Imx, I think. Please R/R 


End file.
